Aadhaar Made Mandatory For Securing Death Certificate

The government has directed that relatives applying for a person's death certificate will have to provide the dead person's Aadhaar number to prevent identity fraud or obviate the need for producing multiple documents to prove his or her identity.

The Registrar General of India, under the Home Ministry, has issued directions to states to ensure compliance by registration authorities. It will provide an effective method to prevent identity fraud. It will also help in recording the identity of the deceased person. Further, it will obviate the need for producing multiple documents to prove the identity of the deceased person, a statement by the RGI said.

An applicant who is not aware of the deceased's Aadhaar number or Enrolment ID Number will have to submit a certificate that the deceased person did not possess Aadhaar number.

If the applicant gives false declaration, it will be treated as 'an offence as per the provisions of the Aadhaar Act, 2016, and also Registration of Birth and Death Act, 1969.

The government has already made Aadhaar mandatory for filing Income Tax returns and provided for linking of PAN with Aadhaar to curb tax evasion through use of multiple PAN cards. Aadhaar is also linked with bank accounts for welfare schemes or otherwise. The government is also pushing for making Aadhaar mandatory for securing a driving licence and vehicle registration to check bogus licences and create national database, and marriage certifications.